Weekly Release #1
10/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Oct. 27 -- at Eastern Michigan Quadrangular (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 3 -- at Georgia (Athens, Ga.), 5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 4 -- at Florida (Gainesville, Fla.), 7:30 p.m.
This Week
The University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team will begin the 2000-01 season at the Eastern Michigan Quadrangular on Friday (Oct. 27) at 6 p.m. at the Michael H. Jones Natatorium in Ypsilanti, Mich. The Maize and Blue will be competing against Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and Oakland University.
Quadrangular
Last season this competition was held at Canham Natatorium, where the Wolverines finishing first out of the four teams. The Wolverines scored the top finisher in 11 of 13 events to total 736 points. Eastern Michigan placed second with 539, followed by Michigan State (435) and Oakland (408). Last year's quadrangular was highlighted by All-American Chris Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg HS) and Scott Werner (Haymarket, Va./Paul VI HS), who each placed first in two events. Thompson set a Canham Natatorium record in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:03.09, breaking the previous record of 9:04.16 set by Tom Dolan (1994-96) in 1995.
A Look Back at 1999-2000
The Wolverines finished with an 8-2 overall dual record, won the Big Ten Conference Championship and placed 14th at the NCAA Championships in 1999-2000. The Maize and Blue was 3-1 against top 25 teams on the road, with victories against 12th-ranked Arizona State, 17th-ranked Penn State, and 23rd-ranked Purdue, while falling to second-ranked Arizona.
The highlight of the dual meet season was the dual with the then-No. 2 Stanford Cardinal. In front of the largest crowd of the regular season at Canham Natatorium, Stanford jumped out in front at the start in winning three of the first four events. The Wolverines rallied back to take seven of the final nine events to pull off the upset.
Bronze Experience
Michigan senior Chris Thompson brings more than three years varsity experience to the Wolverine swimmers this season, along with the bronze medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle from the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Olympic Success
In addition to current senior Chris Thompson, Michigan had nine former swimmers and divers compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and four won medals. Leading the way was Tom Dolan (1994-96), who won a gold in the 400-meter individual medley and a silver in the 200 IM. Tom Malchow (1996-99) won gold in the 200-meter butterfly. Marcel Wouda (1993-95) took bronze for the Netherlands in the 800-meter freestyle relay, and Gustavo Borges (1992-95) won bronze in the 400 free relay representing Brazil.
Assisting in Sydney
Michigan head coach Jon Urbanchek was an assistant coach for the USA swimming team in Sydney, Australia, helping guide his current and former athletes to a very successful Olympic Games.
Leading the Way
A three-man senior class of captain Scott Werner, Chris Thompson and Mike O'Connor (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) will set the example for the Wolverine squad. Thompson was away at the Olympics for most of training camp, so the leadership responsibilities have risen with Werner and O'Connor.
Contact: Jason Binge (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
